Revenue collection represents an integral part of many service industries. Transportation related services embody a large portion of revenue collection opportunities. For example, transportation services such as trains, buses, taxis, and cars for hire typically collect a fare from passengers that may be a fixed fare or may be determined based on a distance or time. Services such as parking or road access can also be sources of revenue collection, as a fare is typically collected based on access. For example, fees for parking may be collected on the basis of time or may be a fixed rate. Similarly, one or more toll booths positioned along a road can each collect a toll, such that a total fare is determined based in part on the distance traveled.
Because there can be many revenue collection points in any particular system, the designers of revenue collection solutions are continually striving to reduce the cost of collection boxes, while maintaining or increasing validation and reliability. There are typically large numbers of revenue collection points in systems such as parking metering and mass transit.
One typical solution for low cost fare collection in mass transit systems is a visual inspection implementation. In the visual inspection implementation a passenger can insert a fare, such as coins or bills, into a fare collection slot. The coins and bills fall through the slot on to a viewing plate consisting of a secure box having a hinged floor and a clear sidewall for viewing. A transit driver or fare collector visually counts coins by examining the deposited fare through the sidewall. If the fare is correct, the driver can manually operate a lever to dump the fare through the hinged floor into a separate fare collection box. The fare collection box can be removed periodically for emptying and revenue reconciliation.
The visual inspection implementation can be very low cost because it can omit all electronics and automated mechanical devices. Unfortunately, the lack of sophistication of the visual inspection implementation is a source of disadvantages. Reliance on the driver for visual inspection of the fare results in a high error rate. Additionally, the system throughput is limited by the driver's ability to determine that the correct fare is deposited in the receiver.
The visual inspection implementation typically lacks sufficient sophistication to minimize loss of revenue. The visual inspection implementation typically lacks the substantial electronics that enable gathering of data useful for revenue verification and auditing. Additionally, the fare collection box is typically removed from the remainder of the fare collection system and the contents emptied into a common collection bin. Because the revenue is typically aggregated before reconciliation, it is not possible to create an audit trail that leads back to the individual fare collection points. Furthermore, without electronic monitoring of collected fares, it is unlikely that an accurate accounting of the expected revenue collected within a collection box can be maintained. The inability to audit revenue collection to the point of transaction creates the potential for fraud or embezzlement.